New Gorillaz Album Coming Soon

Gorillaz will be releasing a new album on March 9, coming 5 years after Demon Days. The new album is called Plastic Beach and will feature many guests including: Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, De La Soul, Mos Def, members of the Clash, and more. The first single – “Stylo” – is a downtempo collab with Mos Def and Bobby Womack.

Each Gorillaz (Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett) album includes some quirky story about the fictional characters in the band that serves as the underlying theme. According to a press release, “the band have taken up residence, recording on a secret floating island deep in the South Pacific, a Plastic Beach HQ, made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity. This Plastic Beach is the furthest point from any landmass on Earth; the most deserted spot on the planet.”

In an interview, Albarn said, “I’m making this one the most pop record I’ve ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth. I suppose what I’ve done with this Gorillaz record is I’ve tried to connect pop sensibility with…trying to make people understand the essential melancholy of buying a ready made meal in loads of plastic packaging. People who watch X Factor might have some emotional connection to these things, this detritus that accompanies what seems to be the most important thing in people’s eyes, the celebrity voyeurism.”

It isn’t clear at this point if Gorillaz will be touring in support of the new album, but they are confirmed to headline Coachella in April.